JOSEPH BERNSTEIN, a native and former longtime resident of New Orleans who was a prominent attorney and businessman, passed away peacefully at his home in Dallas on December 5, 2024. He was 94.

Bernstein practiced law in New Orleans, getting involved in many important cases and projects. He was the attorney for the organizing committee that brought professional football to New Orleans in the form of the New Orleans Saints on November 1, 1966. Throughout his lifetime, he enjoyed a more than 55-year love affair with the Saints. At the time of his passing, he was the sole survivor of the original ownership group.

Among his many celebrated legal victories, Bernstein was key in the successful fight against the privately held utility company New Orleans Public Service Inc. (NOPSI), a privately-held utility company,  from passing its losses onto all ratepayers. He participated in delegations to the former Soviet Union to help free dissidents seeking to emigrate from the USSR.

As a businessman, he succeeded as well, organizing and publishing a local alternative newspaper, Figaro, which was the predecessor to Gambit. Fulfilling his love of cooking, he partnered with Rose Turci to reopen her parent’s Italian restaurant Turci’s on Magazine St. Later he would open a second restaurant, Spaghetti Eddie’s and the Boston Bar, where he supported up-and-coming musicians such as Spencer Bohren and Leigh “Lil’ Queenie” Harris.

Growing up in the Crescent City, Berntein graduated from Isidore Newman School in 1948. Following high school, he attended the University of Alabama and remained a diehard fan of Alabama football his whole life.

While attending college in Alabama, he beame a member of the Army R.O.T.C and, after graduation, joined the Army as a Second Lieutenant, serving in the Quartermaster Corps in Korea.

Following his honorable discharge from the Army in 1954, he returned to New Orleans and enrolled at the Tulane University School of Law. It was at this time he met Phyllis Askanase from Houston, TX. The two married in 1955 and raised their family in New Orleans.

Bernstein was an active member of various community boards, supporting and serving on  the Jewish Community Center, the New Orleans Symphony (now Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra) and the Orleans Gallery, an art cooperative that promoted contemporary art in New Orleans from 1956 to 1973.

Like his diverse professional life, Bernstein had many personal passions which he imparted to family and friends. He was a fervent student of history (military history in particular), philosophy, art and music. He also loved advancements in technology, from his incredible Kodachrome pictures from Korea to buying the first VHS videocassette recorder. Well into his 80s, Joe loved innovations in personal computers and smartphones, which brought him closer to his family around the world.

Bernstein is survived by his wife Phyllis of 69 years; his children Jill Bernstein and Jonathan Joseph Bernstein (Kristi), all of Dallas; Barbara Shuker (Yosef) of Meitar, Israel; and Elizabeth R Bernstein (Graham Saul) of Ottawa, Canada; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. 

A private burial was held in Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, or the charity of your choice.